34 LOCAL OBSERVATION 



their young in one season, will often pass a year or 

 two in the same locality, and use the nest as a 

 resting-place, without any attempt at reproduction, and 

 resume the process in another season. I must say that 

 I have never seen anything more confirmatory of the 

 passage of small birds on the backs of large ones, than 

 the presence of enormous numbers of Motacilla flava* 

 amongst several hundreds of freshly arrived storks in 

 South Spain, in 1872. We saw this as we went by 

 steamer down the Guadalquivir : the wagtails were scarce 

 till we came down to the spot upon which the storks 

 were drilling and consulting, and there the little birds 

 were swarming." ^ 



"October ^th, 1889. 

 " I had a letter two days ago from the Crown Prince 

 of Portugal, describing a marvellous passage of crossbills 

 over a sandy, pine-grown district on the coast of that 

 country, where the bird was previously entirely unknown. 

 He says that he and his companion shot a hundred and 

 fifty, and were only deterred from shooting several 

 thousands by the fact that they had butchered more than 

 they wanted. By the same post I had a letter from Seville, 

 telling me that there are now large numbers in that 

 neighbourhood, where hitherto they have been, to say the 

 least of it, very uncommon." " 



1 To Dr. Albert Giinther. 



' To the Rev. Murray Matthew. 



* The Blue-headed Wagtail. 



